Hundreds of Thousands Attend Funeral of Slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Hundreds of thousands are attending the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran in a clear display of solidarity and defiance by the country’s people, geostrategic analyst Christopher Helali, who is attending the ceremony, has told RT.

Khamenei was assassinated in an airstrike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, along with several close relatives, including his son-in-law, daughter and 14-month-old granddaughter. His son Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in the attack, was chosen to succeed him as the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

In an interview with RT on Monday, Helali told RT that there is “a real sense of unity” at the funeral.

By showing up to the ceremony in such massive numbers, the Iranians are signaling that “they want to have a strong country, a stable country, a resilient country, and they want their sovereignty,” he said.

“That’s a very important thing. That’s a red line. They won’t allow America or the Zionist regime, as they say [referring to Israel], to dictate to them what government they can have and how they can live,” the analyst stressed.

According to Helali, Khamenei’s funeral has also completely negated Washington’s narrative that Iran is in international isolation.

“Over 120 countries are represented here,” he said, adding that not only “most of the Global South,” but nations viewed as the US allies like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also sent delegations, he said.

The presence of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chair of the Security Council, at the ceremony was “very important,” the analyst noted.

Moscow and Tehran “find themselves… in the closest point they’ve ever been in history… and I believe that in the coming years, we’re going to see an even deeper relationship… as they confront the same hostile Euro-Atlantic forces that seek to destroy their sovereignty,” he said.

Khamenei’s funeral, which is taking place between June 3 and 9, will see the supreme leader’s body transferred through at least five cities, with an estimated 30 million expected to participate in the mourning.